I agree with you here, that there are taxes being paid with this money, but the government is a hungry pig and even with those taxes being paid through permits, payroll, sales tax, etc eventually the property is no longer generating income to the government and they're going to get it from somewhere else. Building these structures raises the property value of the surrounding area, so is almost like a cruel joke to everyone around them; they come in and put their building there, don't pay any property taxes but everyone else has to pay more when their property is reassessed.